Max's Happily Ever After
by MeThinks-I-Like-Books
Summary: How i imagine the story will truly end. The only way i think it can, because the book doesn't seem complete. The 20 years have passed, and Max flies out to find Fang, who she has loved every day since he left. Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: I am not James Patterson, and do not own Maximum Ride, the characters, previous story references, or the extract of the letter.**

I had no idea why I was doing this. Why would I forgive him after this long? After leaving me like that! After leaving me to fall apart and then pick up my own pieces and hold it together all this time for the flock. After having to fly without my second-in-command. After all those Eraser battles fought without him. Some lost, some won. In twenty years, he'd missed three impressive captures, three equally impressive escapes, ten "bad-guys" trying to destroy or steal Maximum Ride and her infamous flock, a dozen branches of the School destroyed, and a countless amount of blood shed. He'd not been there by my side. My flock had not had him there. Why would I forgive him?

I guess deep down I really didn't need to ask that question. Deep down, I knew exactly why I was going. I knew down from the soles in my shoes, through the soul inside me, through my heart and to the top of my head, I knew, that I loved him. More than anything. More than Jelly beans, and chocolate. More than my family, my flock though they were damn close. I loved him more than my heart can cope. And every single day for the last twenty years, all two hundred and forty months, all one thousand and forty weeks, and all seven thousand three hundred and five days that I'd counted, I had loved him.

I had his letter memorised to heart. In particular the last paragraph stuck out right now, over and over in my mind. "_Tell you what, sweetie: If in twenty years we haven't expired yet, and the world is still more or less in one piece, I'll meet you at the top of that cliff where we first met the hawks and learned to fly with them. You know the one. Twenty years from today, if I'm alive, I'll be there, waiting for you. You can bet on it. Good-bye, my love. Fang"_

_My love_. I was his love. He was mine. When it came down to it, it was that simple. The last twenty years were irrelevant. It was as simple as the fact that I loved him and he loved me. And _that_ is why I am flying from my Mom's house today (where I'd stopped because it was closer than my own), out over to the cliffs, just before sunrise. Alone: as much as I wanted my flock by my side, and they wanted to be here. This was just something I had to do alone.

I saw the Hawks ahead, blinking my eyes as the sun was just breaking the horizon. The view was breathtaking, an almost unchanged, naturally beautiful valley at sunrise, with half a dozen flawless birds with wingspans that challenged my own circling the air, and more nesting in the crevices on the mountain to the side. I wished I could capture the moment forever, resting there in a state of peace and ease. But then I'd never get to what came next.

I started banking towards the cave, the exact one I'd remembered from way back when. I touched down with an almost perfect land, soundless and making no dent in the reddish sand on the ledge floor. I took a moment just to close my eyes and take a deep breath in of the air, savouring every moment. There was a tinge to the air, a note of something familiar, yet unknown, belonging, yet out of place, sweet, yet bitter.

I fluttered my eyelids open in recognition, as I took a tentative step into the shadows of the cave, my enhanced eyesight helping me out, as I adjusted to the dark almost immediately. Why, after all this time, was I suddenly nervous of this moment?

And then he was at my side, taller, more startlingly handsome than before, but with those same endlessly deep, soul-splitting eyes, that led to a heart of gold. His head held the same black hair, slightly shorter, and recently washed. His attire still consisting of black, making the object in his hand stand out. He held a single red rose out to me, letting me sniff in the beautiful scent, and watching me carefully as I took everything in.

He brushed a strand of hair away from my eyes with his hand, resting his touch lightly on my cheek. His hands were more calloused and rough than ever, telling me that his last twenty years, he'd not exactly been sitting back having a quiet picnic, he'd held his own, and fought as hard as us, no, harder. His eyes never left mine, and no words needed be spoken between us, as we stood there, the rose in my hand, his hand on my cheek, taking in each others' beauty, each others' memories.

We stood like this until neither of us could take it anymore, until we thought our hearts would break if waited a moment longer, and then his lips found mine, his soft, yet firm, perfect lips, his mouth moulding so precisely to mine, like we fit, like it was always meant to be, _because_ it was always meant to be. His other hand snaked to rest lightly on my waist, and mine reached round his neck. We inhaled each others' scent, tasting each others' lips, and I was right, everything was instantly forgotten. I could hold on to this moment forever, wrap it up in a bow and never let go. Hold it close to my heart where it would remain. And only the need for oxygen, the dizziness ensuing in my head, tore us apart, and he held me tight in his arms, not wanting to let go of the moment any more than I did.

"Max," he whispered eventually, the word breaking as it cleared his throat, thick with emotion. "You have no idea…" He started, as I put a finger to those perfect lips.

"Yes, I do," I whispered fiercely in reply, full of more conviction and emotion than ever before.

"Max, I'm so sorry," he looked ashamed, as a tear threatened to surface, I mean, it was Fang. "Every day, I have loved you, more than the last, I have regretted my decision, and yet I know it couldn't have been any other way." I hadn't been expecting any length of speech from Fang today, his letter was the most I've ever heard from him in one go before. "I've missed you, and I've loved you every day, you have kept me fighting, I have come so close to going back on my decision and finding you so many times. But then I would never have destroyed Itex, from the very core. And it's done Max, it's really done. It took so much, it took everything in me. I failed so many times. And wouldn't have managed without you guys, in so many ways. But it's over, they're gone, and we can live our lives. And I hope never to live another day without you there with me, I don't know if I could do it."

He paused, before removing his hand from where in now rested on my shoulder, to hold my hand, so gently, and so tenderly, as his other hand slipped into his pocket so subtly that I wouldn't have noticed, were it not for the absence of his touch. In one movement, he slipped to one knee, and I took in a sharp breath. The tears that had been threatening to fall throughout his speech, making their surface as he opened the small jewellery box, still holding my hand ever so gently, and he uttered those words;

"Maximum Ride. You are everything to me, you are everything to the world, trust me we'd live in a crummier place without your existence. I want you by my side for the rest of my days, you are my soul, my hope, my second wing, my reason for being here." He paused, his gaze trapping mine once more, as I wiped away the falling tears. "Will you marry me?" He finally uttered.

My face was a mess of emotion, as a grin split it in two, more tears emerging, and all I could do was nod, nod like I depended on it, which I did. He had the ring - a beautiful simple white gold band, with a small diamond set into the centre, simple, yet perfect – set on my finger within seconds and lifting me in his arms the next, his lips placed on mine once more, as both our tears mixed now, until we didn't know whose were whose anymore.

This was what my life had been mounting on until this very moment. This was everything I had ever wanted, and so much more. My mind shorted out as he kissed me deeper, and I had no idea how long it lasted.

All I knew that was when we were finally done, and broke apart, all cried out, the sun was completely out and flooding the skies and the cave with warmth. Smiling, Fang grabbed my hand and we both walked to the edge of the ledge, leaping off in one fluid movement, and snapping our wings out simultaneously, him flying just above me, so they didn't clash, but never letting go of my hand, and we headed home, back to the E-shaped house that the CSM had helped rebuild and improve, back to our flock. Home. Where we belong.


End file.
